Subaru of America will push into a higher price segment with its B9 Tribeca sport wagon, setting the base price of the entry model just below $40,000.

The B9 Tribeca is a crucial vehicle for Subaru, which wants to position itself as a premium brand. It's also the key to expanding U.S. Subaru sales from an expected 200,000 units this year to 250,000 by 2006, said Kunio Ishigami, who has been the CEO of Subaru of America for only five months.

Last year, Subaru sold 187,402 vehicles, up a mere 0.3 percent from a year earlier.

The new price position will pit Subaru against vehicles such as the BMW X5 and the Nissan Murano.

Prices haven't been set for the SUV, which goes on sale in June. But Ishigami said at the Detroit auto show: "We cannot be price leaders. We will come in below $40,000."

The B9 Tribeca is based on a car platform with all-wheel drive and seating for as many as seven.

Subaru will position the B9 Tribeca as its flagship and expects to sell about 3,000 a month, Ishigami said.

The B9 Tribeca will be produced at the Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. plant in Lafayette, Ind.

Ishigami said that many of the first buyers will be Subaru owners who have been asking for a larger vehicle for years.

But he also expects the B9 Tribeca to lure customers - especially urban buyers.

http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=101611

3,000 sales a month? That's only 36,000 sales a year so the sales estimates at least aren't hugely overly optimistic. Still, I dunno. That front end sure is hard to like.